


Bolero

by feithne



Series: Life Is Digital [1]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 03:30:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15452412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feithne/pseuds/feithne
Summary: 5 years ago. That was when Max and Chloe met their first Digital Monster.





	Bolero

**Author's Note:**

> Listen to Bolero de Ravel while reading for the full experience.

Night had fallen upon the sleepy town of Arcadia Bay, Oregon. A perfectly normal place to live where no strangeness ever occurred, or so most residents would tell you if you asked. People might complain about the Prescott family buying up real estate or the latest fishing haul, but all in all there was a certain peace to be found in the Bay. At least, until tonight.

On this night, you see, something quite out of the ordinary was taking place. It began simply enough, with electrical devices of various natures and uses malfunctioning. Computers glitched, thermostats shut down, phones dialed absurd numbers all by themselves. Even the sky flashed momentarily with streams of 0s and 1s, as if the world itself had become intrinsically digital.

And yet none in the town were awake to see the signs, every last resident sound asleep in their beds. All save for one young girl whose feet carried her, trancelike, down a flight of stairs toward a specific television set, which crackled with mysterious energy. 0s and 1s and unknown symbols danced across the screen of their own accord, coalescing to form an image… a butterfly.

_ Where am I who am I what am I _

Young Max Caulfield, age 13, heard these thoughts simultaneously from the TV set and from the depths of her heart, as if they were her own. She reached a hand out tentatively, inexplicably drawn to the digital butterfly on-screen.

_ Where am I who am I what am I where am I _

The girl said nothing in reply.

 

Meanwhile, upstairs, her friend was stirring from slumber as well. There was no mysticism behind Chloe Price’s awakening, however, as she immediately made a beeline for the upstairs bathroom, tiptoeing so as not to wake any of her housemates. Bright, flickering lights from below stopped her progress on the landing, and she curiously crept downstairs to investigate.

“Max…?” she wondered aloud in a cautious whisper, perturbed by the scene she discovered. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” Her friend remained in her daze, hand outstretched and gaze unflinchingly locked onto the TV.

“Lost,” came the singular reply. Chloe waited for elaboration but received none.

“You’re lost? What?”

A head shake. “She is. I want to help her. I need to.”

“Max, what are you talking about-- what the hell are you watching?” 

The onscreen butterfly made of 0s and 1s was fluttering its wings now, and if Chloe didn’t know any better she’d swear it was about to come flying out of the screen.

Somehow, Max did know better. “It’s safe here. We can help you,” she encouraged.

“Max, seriously, are you ok--- holy shit.”

An alien, antennae-bearing face was emerging from the television set, followed steadily by a fuzzy neck, armored torso, a stunning wingspan, petite feminine legs…

Chloe’s eyes went wide as saucers as Max welcomed a giant unconscious butterfly woman into the world with a hug. “Shhh,” she cooed, “You’re safe. We’ll figure it out together.”

Chloe had no idea what the fuck was going on. Maybe she should’ve panicked, should’ve yelled, or called for help. But despite her fear (which was considerable), she found herself unable to do anything but smile.

 

* * *

 

 

“Chloe!” called her mother’s voice from downstairs, pulling her out of slumber but not from bed. She merely groaned in response, rolled over, and snuggled closer into Max, trying to ignore the rays of sunlight streaming in through her window. “Chloe!!” came the call again, closer, louder this time. Chloe had to relent.

“What is it, Mom?” she mumbled somewhat grumpily, just loud enough for her mother to be able to hear through the door.

“I’m off to the Two Whales and your father’s gone to the grocery store. There’s breakfast in the fridge for whenever you girls finally decide to join the rest of the awake world.”

“Can’t hear you Mom, we’re sleeping!” Chloe called back with sass.

“Don’t sleep too long! I love you!”

“Love you too!”

And with that conversation out of the way, still mostly asleep, Chloe cozied back into Max’s soft wings. “I had the weirdest dream, Max,” she began in a mumble, uncertain whether or not her friend was awake enough to hear her yet. "The TV went crazy, and you were acting super weird, and then a big bug lady came out of the TV and---”

_ Wait wait wait wait wait. Wings!? _

Chloe jolted back away from the warm body whom she’d thought was Max so fast she ended up rolling right off the bed in alarm. Quickly leaping to her feet and dusting herself off, she recalled helping Max lug this enigma upstairs and tucking it into bed with them. It had just seemed like the thing to do at the time, but now…

Now the bug lady and Max were both sound asleep in each other’s arms, limbs entangled so deeply they might as well have been the same person. Chloe found herself smiling against her better judgment. This was crazy, and weird, and utter nonsense, and so fucking cool!!!!

She ran around to the other side of the bed to shake Max awake, getting a closer look at Bug Lady as she did so.

Bug Lady was clearly not human, and not just because of her fantastic deep blue butterfly wings, patterned with stripes and a sky blue gradient. She also didn’t really have eyes? It kinda looked like she was wearing a buglike helmet at first, but then when you looked closer you could tell that that was her actual face. Except poking out of the helmet was her lips and chin, which were not only very human but also very feminine. And then there was her fuzzy neck thing, and her armory arms, and  _ are those claws??  _ But before Chloe could go too far into having reservations about this creature, she got distracted gazing at the very human, very girly legs, that yes did end in plates but were also quite creamy and and thank god Max was waking up then.

“Max!” she whispered, hoping not to wake up Bug Lady just yet. “Max, what the hell happened last night!? This is so amazeballs! There’s a, a  _ creature  _ in my bed, Max! I snuggled it on accident! It’s snuggling you!!!! What is she?? I mean, it is a she, right?”

“Whoa, slow down, Chloe!” Max stifled a yawn, smiling fondly at the beautiful guest as she carefully extricated herself from its plated limbs. “Yes, it is definitely a she. I don’t know who she is or where she came from, and I don’t think she really does either, but she’s definitely our friend.”

“What, so you just know? She came out of the TV, Max. What does that even  _ mean _ ??”

“Maybe she used to live in there?” Max shrugged, getting up out of bed and stretching a little.

“Live where??? Like there’s a whole ‘nother world inside the TV or something? This isn’t a video game! ...Unless it is, and we’re the totally badass action heroines.” Chloe quirked an eyebrow. “How come you’re not totally freaking out? I’m totally freaking out.”

Max looked a little perplexed by that. “You don’t hear her?”

“Hear what? Is she snoring?? Do butterflies snore!?”

“No, she… oh.” The butterfly in question stretched in bed and yawned like a princess, then fluttered up behind Max to give her a hug.

“Wow, she really likes you, Max,” Chloe said with a smirk.

“Yeah, I don’t know why, but I can sort of… hear her feelings? Or thoughts? Or… I don’t know, Chloe. This is so weird, but it feels like I’ve known her for a really long time, or something? I can’t explain it.”

“Maybe you were separated at birth,” Chloe joked. “You ever feel an urge to uh, pollinate flowers, or whatever it is butterflies do?”

“I don’t think so,” Max responded seriously as Bug Lady released her from the extended hug, and began sniffing around the room, stumbling clumsily over toys or clothes left on the floor.

“What’s it doing?” Chloe asked.

“I think she’s hungry,” Max explained.

At those words, an unmistakably loud gurgle erupted from the butterfly’s stomach.

“I can’t believe it. Max, you seriously speak butterfly. This is  _ so cool _ !!!! I’m gonna go grab her some of that breakfast Mom was talking about. Back in a flash!”

With one last excited glance back at the butterfly woman, who was at present curiously inspecting a stuffed shark, Chloe bounded down the stairs to the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear.

 

* * *

 

 

“Wowser, I didn’t know butterflies could eat so much,” Max idly commented as their supernatural guest scarfed down her sixth serving of pancakes.

“And who knew they were so big into pancakes, right?” Chloe sniggered. She and Max had had to cook up a fresh batch for her after she ran through Joyce’s pre-cooked stock. “Can’t believe she wouldn’t even touch the bacon.” As she said this, she stuffed her own face with yet another piece of crispity delightfulness, closing her eyes to luxuriate in the taste.

“You should be glad she didn’t,” Max pointed out, “Or there might not be any left for you.”

Chloe swallowed. “Speaking of, Max…” She gestured with a fork towards the creature, whose face was spattered with butter, syrup, and pancake flecks but was clearly eyeing Max’s own half-finished pancake breakfast with great interest. “You might wanna defend your territory there. Or not. I mean, she does sorta have claws.”

A frown found its way to Max’s face as she pulled her plate closer to her chest. “Sorry, butterfly, this is  _ my _ breakfast. We don’t have any more pancake mix, and…” She was trying her best to be gentle, but the winged beauty was clearly crushed by the news. Her lips were formed into a pout, her head hanging, and if she had eyes behind that weird face mask helmet thing, Max was sure they were on the verge of tears.

“Y-you can have some bacon if you want?” Chloe speared a slice and extended it in offering, but was rejected with a sorrowful shake of the butterfly’s head. Pancakes or nothing, then. That was how Max herself felt about breakfast most days, but…

She sighed, feeling the insistent tug of  _ Want more so hungry _ emanating from her new friend. Having no other option, she bid farewell to the divinity of syrup and flour, pushing her plate away from herself. “Okay, butterfly. You win. Eat up.” Truly, a nobler sacrifice had never been made. Chloe snorted, but Max ignored her.

The butterfly had clearly not been expecting this, and was visibly touched. Her hands covered her lips in joy, and her mouth burst into a beautiful, alien smile. Then, shockingly, she leapt into flight and air-tackled Max right out of her chair and onto the ground, wrapping plated arms around her and planting a big wet pancake-flavored kiss right on her lips.

_ Thank you so happy best friend love love love!!!!! _

Max simply flailed about, brain shutting down and refusing to process what was happening.

“HEY!” Chloe shouted, leaping into action herself and trying to pull the creature off of Max. “You can’t just jump up and kiss people like that, Bug Lady, that’s---mnnff!!!” It seemed now it was Chloe’s turn to receive a lip lock, as the butterfly had seemingly finished with Max. She pinned Chloe briefly to the fridge, broke the kiss, and smiled radiantly. She then sat back down at the table and devoured Max’s pancakes while Chloe slowly sank down to the floor to exchange a stunned glance with Max, who looked confused but somehow still calm, holding a single hand to her lips.

The butterfly burped, smacked her lips, and joined them in sitting on the floor, smiling between the two of them.

 

* * *

 

 

Hiding their friend from Chloe’s parents proved far easier a task than either girl had anticipated. Joyce would be home late from work and William took forever getting back from the store. Apparently the scanning machine had been on the fritz, and the traffic lights in town were all blinking like mad. He complained to Chloe about the world relying too much on technology as he got started in on dinner, saying that “it’s like everything these days is going digital! Isn’t it nuts? Before you know it,  _ we’ll  _ be digital too!”

“Yeah Dad, that’d be real weird,” Chloe said distractedly, thoughts on Max and Bug Lady upstairs, wondering if she should and also how she even could come clean about harboring a loose-lipped butterfly lady who jumped out of the family TV.

Her father made a dismissive hand gesture in her direction, focusing on dicing vegetables. “But I’m boring you! You’re 14, you shouldn’t have to listen to me go on about this stuff. Go, have fun with Max. Your old man can suffer through making dinner by himself. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Chloe replied.

“There’ll be cake afterwards!” her father called after her as she fled upstairs.

“Can’t wait!” she called back.

Upon her return to her room from playing interference, Max and Bug Lady were precisely where she’d left them: in the closet, snuggled up in a fort they’d all three built together in there before William had come home.

“Hear that?” Max posed conversationally to Bug Lady, “We’re having cake.”

“Pancake?”

“Nope, cakecake. It’s really good, almost as good as pancakes.”

“I wanna try!”

“Max?” Chloe asked quizzically, opening the wardrobe door. There was just her and the butterfly, as expected. “Who are you talking to?”

“Hudiemon,” Max answered simply.

“Who da what now?”

“Hudiemon,” came the repeated reply, but Max’s lips didn’t move.

“Oh, you named her.”

“No, that’s just my name. My name is Hudiemon,” said the butterfly.

Chloe tried to stammer out a response. “I… you? You can talk!”

Max and Bug Lady- no,  _ Hudiemon  _ continued their conversation without so much as a glance Chloe’s way.

“I’m Max. That’s Chloe. Max,” she said, pointing to herself, then pointing to Chloe in turn. “Chloe.”

“Max and Chloe.”

“Sorry about having to hide you away in here,” Max was saying. “William’s great, but he wouldn’t understand. Maybe tomorrow.”

Hudiemon shook her head, smiling. “It’s okay. Thank you for keeping me safe. And for giving me your pancakes!” She leaned in close to Max’s face and gave her another kiss. Max still didn’t return the gesture, but she didn’t struggle either. The contact was brief and chaste. “That’s a sign of our friendship!” Hudiemon stood up and offered the same contact with Chloe, who was flummoxed but more prepared this time.

She held Hudiemon in her arms for a few more moments, feeling something odd. Maybe this is what Max had been feeling? She was sure that she had never encountered a talking butterfly woman before, but still couldn’t dispel the idea that she was somehow familiar…

“Oh no!” Max exclaimed, suddenly looking alarmed and grabbing Hudiemon’s hand and rushing out the door. “Too many pancakes!” she called to Chloe by way of explanation before darting to the bathroom and closing the door behind them. Some unflattering noises could be heard even across the hall, and suddenly Chloe realized that Max had taken on the unsavory duty of teaching an alien how to use a toilet.

Truly, a nobler sacrifice had never been made.

 

* * *

 

 

Later that night, as Chloe was having a particularly interesting dream involving butterflies and kisses, she vaguely registered being shaken, and her name being repeated again and again.

“...loe! Chloe!” Max whispered as loudly as she dared.

“Nnngh, Max, what time is it?” She looked to her alarm clock only to find the numbers cycling rapidly through every possible permutation of digital display. The lights were flickering in the room, and Max wore a look of extreme concern on her face. Chloe was fully awake in an instant. “What’s happening?”

“It’s Hudiemon.”

The beautiful butterfly woman was hunched over in the closet fort, shivering and shuddering, shaking her head rapidly. She looked sick.

“Is she okay? Maybe she just has to poop again?”

“It’s more than that, Chloe. She’s scared.” Max rubbed a soothing hand up and down Hudiemon’s arm, but it went completely unnoticed. “Something’s happening to her.”

The sound of a door opening and closing downstairs alerted Chloe to her mother’s return from a long shift at the diner. “Shit. Mom’s home. Look, maybe she just needs to stretch her wings or, or she needs more pancakes, or...” Chloe’s sentence trailed off as she witnessed Hudiemon’s wings splitting into four, her antennae fusing into one. “Holy shit, Max.”

Colors shifted and morphed, plates softened, vines grew where fur was before. Most notably, she grew larger. Much, much larger. There was a very loud crunching noise as Chloe’s wardrobe burst apart, unable to contain Hudiemon’s new size.

“Chloe!? Chloe, are you okay?” Joyce’s voice came from downstairs, filled with concern, but neither Chloe nor Max could respond, so bewildered were they by the evolution unfolding before them.

An extremely tall… flower clambered out of the closet, human eyes now visible below a helmet crafted of pink petals. Her armor plates had become petals and vines, her wingspan split into four leaves. But the pleasant butterfly they’d befriended was completely gone, if the soulless scowling expression on her face was any indication.

“Chloe, are you in there!?” Joyce had arrived at the door, and Chloe instinctively rushed over and held it shut, preventing her mother’s entrance. “Chloe, open this door! Chloe!”

As Chloe stared, bewildered, Bug Lady finished turning into Plant Lady and examined her surroundings, sniffing the air and glaring at everything. Max, for the first time since the strangeness had begun, looked fearful and uncertain, backing away slowly towards the window and opening it.

“Come on, Hudiemon, it’s okay. I’m here. Let’s, uh, let’s go stretch our wings, huh?” Hudiemon showed no signs of even acknowledging Max’s presence in the room, but exited through the window nonetheless, her overlarge form breaking bits of the house and most of the window itself off with her. Max grabbed her arm and clung on for dear life, refusing to let her friend go through this transformation alone.

“Max, are you crazy!? What are you doing?? Max!”

But Hudiemon was already flying off with Max in tow, seeming not to even notice the additional dead weight in her flight.

“Shit. Max!” Chloe abruptly opened her bedroom door, causing Joyce to stumble in.

“Chloe, what in the world is--- what happened to your room!?”

“Can’t explain, Mom! I-- I’ve gotta go. Bye!”

“Chloe, you get back here right this instant! Chloe? Chloe!”

But Chloe wasn’t about to let this crazy butterfly flower alien TV monster kidnap her best friend. She rushed downstairs, snatched her dad’s keys off the key rack, barreled into the garage and stuck the key in the ignition.

“Hang on, Max… I’m on my way!”

 

* * *

 

 

As Max and Hudiemon flew across the town of Arcadia Bay, countless observers formed at windowsills or in driveways. Most were children about Max’s age, she noticed, or she might have if she were able to pay attention to anything besides her grip on Hudiemon’s arm. Hudiemon herself didn’t seem to be giving her the time of day anymore, not even subconsciously.

“S-so that’s it, huh!?” she uttered breathlessly. “You just… ngh, you kiss a girl and then give her the silent treatment? Aren’t we friends? Hudiemon!”

No matter what she said, Hudiemon continued her single-minded pursuit of who knows what. Max was trying desperately not to look down, but she stole a peek anyway. While mostly a terrible idea that filled her with immense panic, she did make eye contact with an older blonde girl standing on a high hotel balcony, who offered a smile and a wave, as if to admire how much fun Max was having.

She thought about kissing Hudiemon, and about her friendship with Chloe, and about this pretty girl smiling at her in the sky, and decided that if she was about to die horribly, at least she’d figured out just how gay she was first.

As she smiled back at the girl despite her panic, she didn’t notice a boy in his parents’ house glancing fervently between the sight in the sky and his scrambled Game Boy. Nor did she observe the quiet girl whose Bible study had been interrupted by a flickering fish tank, nor the rich young debutante whose laptop stream of  _ Ghost in the Shell  _ had turned into incomprehensible digital noise as Max and Hudiemon flew by.

“Hudiemon, I’m slipping. Can we take a break, maybe? Please? I ca-can’t hold on much longer…” Max protested, the sweat from her panic not helping her grip in the slightest.

Once again Hudiemon ignored her, focusing instead on a single late night vehicle in the lonely streets of Arcadia Bay, flying swiftly as she could closer in to it and pressing her flowery hands together, the leaves and petals shifting until they formed a cannonlike implement aimed just above Max’s head.

“Wh-whoa, hey, what’re you going to do with that, Hudiemon? Hudiemon, don’t! Don’t do it!”

Hudiemon did it, launching a salvo of three green energy blasts towards the car, but her aim was off just enough thanks to Max’s extra weight that they merely blasted a public mailbox, the storefront of a bait shop, and a fresh pothole in the road.

The car pulled over after being shot at, however, and a man with a camera exited, staring directly at the pair of girls in the sky. He took a few shots back at them, albeit the nonlethal variety. He had a really,  _ really  _ nice camera, Max couldn’t help noting. This act incensed Hudiemon beyond belief, and she dove at the man, forming her free arm into a thorny blade.

“Hudiemon, no! Stop it! Don’t hurt people!” Max struggled to maintain her grip at such high speeds, but luckily they were approaching ground level, so she might be able to let go soon and then… she didn’t know what, but surely she could get through to Hudiemon somehow!

The man scrambled to get back into his car, but he was going to be too slow. Max was going to have to watch a man die at her new friend’s hand. Or she would have, if a car horn hadn’t blared from down the street and frozen Hudiemon in her tracks, just a few feet above the ground. Max wearily slid down to the flower woman’s arm, collapsing safely on the ground.

“Hey… Hudiemon…” she panted between relieved breaths. “Can’t we just go home now? Chloe’s here,” she said, as a head of strawberry blonde hair emerged from William’s car down the road, dashing toward them.

The man Hudiemon had nearly killed frantically climbed back into his fancy car and peeled out of the town center just as the traffic lights all around them began flickering. The neon OPEN sign of a pizzeria lit up, then flickering off, and back on, and so forth. But Max wasn’t watching that.

Max was watching the giant hole in the sky.

“Holy shit,” Chloe breathed, catching up to Max and following her gaze. Hudiemon, too, was staring upward. The three witnessed an enormous shadow descend upon Arcadia Bay, in the shape of an egg. “Max, what the fuck is going on? That thing’s gonna cover all of Oregon if it gets any bigger.”

The egg hatched.

A positively gargantuan mechanized, armored, blue figure fell from the sky, descent slowed by what seemed like jetpacks attached to its back in place of wings. It had enormous armored talons, a ferocious snarl, and one of its arms was simultaneously a lance, a shield, and an evil-looking face. Its real face locked in a snarl, it looked directly at their trio.

“Shit, we are so, so screwed, Max! Come on, let’s run!”

“Not without Hudiemon!”

“Max--”

The draconic beast rushed towards them, but Hudiemon blasted at it with its flowery cannon arms, sending the monster scattering. It was twice Hudiemon’s size, probably big enough to step on the Two Whales and squish it flat, but that didn’t stop Hudiemon from pursuing it.

“Alright, let’s go, Max, Hudiemon wants to fight it and I think we should let her.”

“No! I won’t leave her!”

Chloe tried to physically stop Max, but Max disentangled herself from the grip and chased after Hudiemon. Chloe sighed and pursued her.

Hudiemon was continually firing green cannon blasts at the dragon thing, but was only really succeeding in destroying additional property around the Bay. They were close enough to a residential area now that Max could see more bystanders anxiously watching the fight from their perches at windows and balconies. But her eyes weren’t for them right now. She had to help Hudiemon!

Finally the dragon monster quit flying around, cooled its jetpacks, and landed in the middle of the street. Hudiemon’s flower blasts finally connected! ...And did exactly nothing to the beast. It shrugged them off like they were nothing. Max caught up with Hudiemon and held her hand, very distressed.

“Hudiemon! Hudiemon, please, you’ll get hurt! Hudiemon!” No response. The flower woman merely fired more shells from her cannon. “Hudiemon!”

“Max, come on, let’s go!”

“No!”

As the two girls struggled, the dark dragon monster opened its mouth as if to roar, building up a vile dark ball of energy.

“Oh shit, Max, we seriously have to---”

_ BOOM. _

An explosion rocked the entire world around them as the dragon launched the energy ball directly at Hudiemon, and suddenly everything was bright as a flash of light engulfed Max’s world.

It was coming from the lights of the nearby hotel, the same one from before. Every last room was lighting up and blinking out up and down the building. The debutante was on foot nearby, describing the battle to her family on the phone, but her call was interrupted with digital cracks and static. The girl from the balcony smiled brilliantly down at the scene unfolding, her entire world rocked to its foundation.

Hudiemon was bigger now. Much,  _ much  _ bigger. She'd doubled in size, and her petals, previously pink with green vines, had been tinged black and red, a scar on her forehead marking the dark dragon’s blast. She was far more human than she had ever been despite her considerable size, and her clothes were somehow unmistakably punk. She wore a deep red jacket but didn’t bother wearing the sleeves, and her hair came down in thick green vines behind her.

Max and Chloe remained safe and sound in one of her enormous gloved hands. A change had come over Max. She was sobbing, mumbling Hudiemon’s name repeatedly, clutching her head. Chloe couldn’t tear her eyes away from the giant woman’s soulful black ones, astonished that the monster had actually saved their lives. Hudiemon lifted them to her face and planted a small (by her standards) kiss on each of their heads.

“A sign of our friendship…” Chloe remembered in awe, receiving a grin in response as the large and badass plant woman gently placed her and Max on the street, turning to face her dreaded opponent.

She immediately whipped out a spiked yo-yo and sent it flying into the dragon’s back thrusters, knocking out its flight capability.

“Holy shit,” Chloe mumbled while Max continued sobbing in her arms.

Hudiemon then ran toward it and clobbered it in the face with a solid punch, then a backflip kick into its chin. The dragon roared and growled, stabbing at the woman with its menacing lance arm, but she was too quick. Whenever the lance seemed about to connect, she would simply extend her right hand and appear somewhere else to provide a swift kick or yo-yo to the face.

“Holy shit,” Chloe repeated herself, locked on to the action before her, holding Max ever closer as the younger girl's body began trembling.

Hudiemon finally succeeded in knocking the dragon’s helm clean off its face, leapt back out of the lance’s reach, then put her hands together and formed a familiar-looking cannon. She offered Chloe a wink and mouthed something inaudible as it charged, then faced the dragon monster with eyes glinting in fierce determination.

“FIRE!” Chloe shouted, jumping into the air and pumping a fist at the same time as Hudiemon's flower cannon erupted. The blast was so powerful, everything faded to white. Max, Chloe, Hudiemon, the dragon monster, and even the girl on the balcony were immersed in a fantastically brilliant flash.

And then, even more suddenly than they'd arrived, the giant creatures were both gone, leaving Max and Chloe alone in the rubble. Chloe awestruck, Max on her feet now, no longer clutching her head, calling out “Hudiemon! Where did you go? Come back, Hudiemon!”

There was no response but the sunrise.

  
  
  


_ After an endless dream, in this world of nothingness _

_ It seems like our beloved dreams will lose. _

_ Even with these unreliable wings, covered in images that seem to stay _

_ I’m sure we can fly, oh yeah _

 

_ After an endless dream, in this miserable world _

_ Maybe not using common sense isn’t so bad _

_ Even with these awkward wings, dyed with images that seem to stay _

_ I’m sure we can fly on my love _

**Author's Note:**

> Prelude to a Life is Strange Digimon series I'd like to write if there's enough interest. I mostly wrote this as a warmup so I could get back into the writing zone, and I don't have anyone to beta for me, so please let me know what you think! Your comments give my work meaning.


End file.
